EXCERPT:It's the fourth and final meeting between two teams that have become major rivals after meeting in each of the last three postseasons. The Canucks have won two of the first three, including a 6-2 win on Nov. 6 in their first visit to the United Center.

While the Hawks have been playing some of their best hockey of the season, the Canucks are staggering to the finish line. They won only three times during a seven-game homestand and began a four-game trip with a 2-0 loss at Minnesota on Monday. Chicago has won four in a row and is just two points out of fourth place in the West.

INJURIES:Vancouver is without forward Andrew Ebbett (broken collarbone) until next month. Defenseman Keith Ballard (concussion) is gone for the season. … The Hawks are still without captain Jonathan Toews, who will miss his 15th straight game with an upper-body injury believed to be concussion-related. The Hawks are 9-4-1 without him, including 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. Defenseman Steve Montador (upper body) is day-to-day, while Daniel Carcillo (lower body) is out for the season and Sami Lepisto (lower body) is out indefinitely.

HOT:The Hawks.

NOT HOT:The Canucks.

HISTORY:In 1831, the government of Illinois forced the Indians of the Sauk and Fox tribes of the land that is now Chicago, to the other side of the Mississippi River in Iowa. The Sauk and Fox tribes moved immediately but a small group led by chief Black Hawk refused. Chief Black Hawk was born in 1767. He was a Sauk Native American born into a Sauk tribe near what is now Rockford, IL. Eventually the force of the Illinois government was too much, so Black Hawk and his group moved to the other side of the Mississippi River.

The next spring, Chief Black Hawk gathered an army. One year later in 1832, a group led by Chief Black Hawk returned to the land where they were born but now it wasn't just a small army; it was an army of about 700 Sauk and Fox Indians. The Government wanted them to move, but they refused. "We want to stay and live on the land that we were born on." The only thing Chief Black Hawk wanted to do was plant corn on the place where he was born. The Government did not agree with this. The Indians did not like this decision, so they fought because there was too much fury between the Indians and the Illinois government.

Illinois soldiers tried to fight, but finally the pressure of the Indians was too much, so they were forced to call in the U.S. Army to fight off the Indians. The U.S. Army was too much. Chief Black Hawk tried to retreat but the U.S. army did not back down from the Indians. The U.S. army forced the Indians back to the Mississippi River. This was the last battle in the Black Hawk War. They called it "The Battle of the Axe." At the "Battle of the Axe" hundreds of mothers and children died. Then Chief Black Hawk tried surrendering, but it didn't work. The Army took chief Black Hawk and other Sauk and Fox Indians captive and tortured them with knives, clubs, and guns.

In World War 1 an army infantry division was nicked the "Blackhawk Division" in deference to the Chief. The teams first owner had been a commander in the unit and hence named his team the Black Hawks. In 1986 the name was altered to Blackhawks.

donlever wrote:Blackhawks on fire. Canucks not so much. So is this the telling game. Can we turn it off and on?

I sure hope so.

donlever wrote:Or does this game still not matter enough?

Although most fans, myself included, would really like to see our team's "A" game tonight, and some dramatic types may even call it a "must win", the result of this game is unlikely to impact the Canucks playoff seeding. It is not a "must win" game. That being said, there is plenty of cause for motivation:-This is our greatest rival over the last 3 seasons -The boys got embarrassed by the Wild last game-Although I'm sure there is still plenty of confidence within the locker room, if you keep putting up laughable efforts at some point some measure of doubt is going to creep in - I'd imagine that most of the team would like to remove that doubt with a solid outing tonight

donlever wrote:Which Canuck team will we see?

I believe will see a motivated one. It's been quite a while since they played at the top of their game so I expect there to be some problems with execution. I suppose that is possibly the greatest risk in stumbling into the playoffs. Hopefully they can play a few of the remaining regular season games (starting with this one) at a high enough intensity to sharpen that execution before it really starts to matter.

donlever wrote:Which Luongo will we see?

I'll go out on a limb and say that we see the very good Luongo tonight. I'll chose a limb close to the ground though because I know it's very fragile and has a tendency to completely break rather than just bend a bit.

2. We talk about motivation for our team, but how motivated will Chicago be to win knowing they'll tie Detroit and be that much closer to playing Nashville in the 1st round as opposed to Dallas or Phoenix. Detroit seems to have caught on and are already in "Phallus for Dallas" mode.

3. The flip a switch theory will indeed be tested tonight. There is lots of evidence that it is in place right now - the recent STL and DET games being the most recent evidence.

4. Remember, the process is what need to to focus on tonight, not the result. In at least 2 of the previous 3 games vs Chicago this season, the better team did not win. What Vancouver needs to do tonight is get the processs squared away, the result will be secondary.

I think this is going to be as much a telling game for Luongo going forward as it will be for the Canucks ability to turn it on and off at will.

From here on out the Canucks play only this game against a team that is believed to be a challenge for them in the playoffs. The rest of the games are against teams on the playoff bubble, most of whom will be likely opening round match ups, but ultimately squads who are in dog fights for their playoff lives. Given their play of late, every team the Canucks might face in the first round will be a handful for them, and I will say that based on the last 3 weeks most of those teams would either knock the Canucks out in 5 or 6 games, or at the very least take the Canucks to 7 games before Vancouver figured themselves out. If the Canucks as a team come out flat and play the mindnumbingly stupid, soft, boring, amateur, hockey that we have seen since the end of February, then we know they are in big trouble heading into the playoffs. The only way a loss is acceptable tonight is if we out shoot the Hawk's by a wide margin, end up with 10 posts and are up against a shit-hot-lucky-as-all-hell goalie, and the evidence points directly to intervention on the part of the hockey gods. This is only in regards to the skaters.

Luongo is the one under the gun here in my books. If his head isn't in it for a game against, who is currently, our biggest rival, then Vigneault needs to make the hard (though it should be easy) decision and go with the reliable guy between the pipes. If AV can't do that, then Gillis needs to "meddle" and make the executive decision for him because let's face it, this is as close to a playoff game as we are going to see since we played Boston and Detroit earlier this year.

My concerns as far as the Sedin's go will not be assuaged in any way here this evening. If they are indeed saving things for the playoffs, then I don't expect much from them tonight. They are cool customers who will not be goaded into risking the longterm by spending too much too early. If there is one thing that can be said about the Twins it is that they are very good at learning from past experiences, and I don't think we will truly see if that is the case this year until we hit the post-season. I expect they will compete tonight, but I don't expect them to go the extra mile for the 2 points, or that they will show all their cards and push hard to embarrass the Hawk's if the Canuck's are up by a goal or two. Cagey Swedes anyways.....

Kassian needs to have a big game tonight. This is his first game in a Canuck's jersey where he will face an opponent in which there is bad blood between the contestants. A dose of this rivalry will hopefully go a long way towards getting him involved and really cemented into Canuckdom. He strikes me as the kind of guy that will be a real presence in games where the hate level reads at the proverbial "redline".

First game I have looked forward to watching since St. Louis came to Vancouver to start the home stand.

Blackhawks on fire. Canucks not so much. So is this the telling game. Can we turn it off and on?

No..and the Bolland line will own the Sedins:(.. Maybe we get lucky and the other lines score enough to offset that.. But I do think the team will play a stronger game... maybe going from their "D" game to a C+ ..and squeeking a win.

Blackhawks on fire. Canucks not so much. So is this the telling game. Can we turn it off and on?

No..and the Bolland line will own the Sedins:(.. Maybe we get lucky and the other lines score enough to offset that.. But I do think the team will play a stronger game... maybe going from their "D" game to a C+ ..and squeeking a win.

Ironically that is the only thing that gives me any hope regarding the Sedin's game tonight.

In the last meeting between these teams the Sedin's stepped it up and actually embarrassed Bolland's line with Daniel scoring the winner in OT while Bolland was right there on his back in front of the net. Bolland's comments earlier this year regarding "the sisters" seemed to spur the Twins a little, and as passive as they can be at times, I think they are the best two players on this team when it comes to "flipping the switch". If Bolland is on the ice against them, expect the Sedin's to come to play if the game is close. (Coach Q will probably have Bolland out there almost every shift that the Sedin's see).

Meds wrote:Luongo is the one under the gun here in my books. If his head isn't in it for a game against, who is currently, our biggest rival, then Vigneault needs to make the hard (though it should be easy) decision and go with the reliable guy between the pipes. If AV can't do that, then Gillis needs to "meddle" and make the executive decision for him because let's face it, this is as close to a playoff game as we are going to see since we played Boston and Detroit earlier this year.

I don't think we're at that stage with Luongo, but unless he completely implodes before the playoffs, Luo will be the starter for game 1 of the playoffs.

BUTT the post-season leash will be much shorter. If Luo continues his poor play leading into the playoffs, I see Schneider coming in as soon as game 2 if things go awry in the first game.

Blackhawks on fire. Canucks not so much. So is this the telling game. Can we turn it off and on?

No..and the Bolland line will own the Sedins:(.. Maybe we get lucky and the other lines score enough to offset that.. But I do think the team will play a stronger game... maybe going from their "D" game to a C+ ..and squeeking a win.

"Bolland’s supposed “domination” over the Sedins is as over-rated as the Aerosmith classic, “Dude (Looks Like a Lady).”

While Bolland remains an elite two-way player, his “Sedin nemesis” title seems to me to be based on perception that has been mostly shaped by a couple of isolated incidents, rather than facts. In the larger picture, the Sedins have had a good deal of success against Dave Bolland, and will likely continue to should their respective team’s meet again this postseason."